The Empire Strikes Back feat. Vijay Bhojwani
Ok, so it’s not exactly a story about striking back, but Vijay and his family sure figured out how to build an empire in local real estate. For Vijay’s part, experience really was the best teacher.
Vijay is not just your typical real estate developer; he’s a visionary with a knack for turning ideas into incredible spaces. With over 20 years of experience, he’s been shaking things up in Charlotte for a minute. He knows how to leverage relationships, party like a rock star, and still find time for family.
Does this dude ever sleep?
But Vijay wasn’t born into a real estate empire. Far from it actually, and getting started wasn’t easy.
In this coffee-soaked episode of The Raising a Ruckus Podcast, we get into it with Vijay Bhojwani, what keeps him up all night, and why he’d rather be working than doing anything else.
Try and keep pace, y’all. Vijay is always in “go mode!”
Cheers!
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Marketing Royalty in the House feat. Blair Primis
If you follow the marketing biz in Charlotte at all, you know today’s guest. Or at least you know his work. Blair Primis is Chief Marketing Officer at Flagship Specialty Partners, but before that, he made a ton of noise marketing for one of CLT’s major players in the healthcare space.
Blair’s had the unique opportunity to make local healthcare marketing more accessible and engaging, all while keeping things refreshingly real. Along the way, he helped connect doers, innovators, and creators with cash money; investing in people and their day-to-day instead of naming rights to buildings and stadiums.
He continues to lead, mentor, and shake it up in the marketing and healthcare consumerism space.
So what’s the deal, and WTH is “healthcare consumerism” anyway? We’ll get into all that in this episode of The Raising a Ruckus Podcast, where we’re cutting up with our man Blair Primis over a couple of Friday show beers. Buckle up, party people. This one’s more than worth a listen!
Cheers!
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Cashing In feat. Chris Gere; Risk Taker, Rapper, Teacher
Here we go! It’s time for The Raising a Ruckus Podcast; the show all about rule-
breakers, change-makers, and risk-takers — and the leaps of faith, sleepless nights,
disasters, and big decisions they made along the way. Welcome to the show!
There’s probably not a one of us who hasn’t thought about taking a leap, doing
something completely different, or getting a second chance altogether. No matter how
good you’ve got it, there’s always that, “what if,” feeling that lingers somewhere. Like an
itch that needs a scratch.
The older we get, the tougher it gets to reach that itchy part, too.
Chris Gere is one of those folks who scratched that itch like a dog with fleas. With a wife
and kids, a mortgage, and a grown-up job that paid the bills, Chris up and quit his “real”
job to pursue a calling to create music. But not without a plan, y’all. He did the money
math and figured he’d could afford a year to make it work.
We caught up with him pretty close to the end of that year. So, how’d it go?
Chris Gere cuts it real on this episode of The Raising a Ruckus Podcast…
Cheers!------
Playing in the street with Brian Mister, Around the Crown 10k
Here we go! It’s time for The Raising a Ruckus Podcast; the show all about rule-breakers, change-makers, and risk-takers — and the leaps of faith, sleepless nights, disasters, and big decisions they made along the way. Welcome to the show!
Whether you’re running around Charlotte or not, you’ve probably caught wind the Around the Crown 10k. This once-a-year opportunity to run on the 277 loop is enough to attract thousands of folks to the start line. Equally as cool, this event has been a local leader in sustainability and creating an equitable and accessible product.
For those who’ve yet to Around the Crown, that may not seem so “wow.” So let’s frame it like this: Brian Mister managed to convince local and state decision-making types to close down a portion of 277 to run a 10k race. Since then, he’s worked to make it as clean and green an event as possible, AND make damned near everybody feel like they belong.
We can dig it. All of it, actually.
Those are just some of the reasons we wanted to have him here with us on The Raising a Ruckus Podcast…
Cheers!
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The Oprah of CLT Art feat. Wendy Hickey, Art Pop Street Gallery
Here we go! It’s time for The Raising a Ruckus Podcast; the show all about rule-breakers, change-makers, and risk-takers — and the leaps of faith, sleepless nights, disasters, and big decisions they made along the way. Welcome to the show!
You may not know the name Wendy Hickey, but you’ve probably seen her work. She’s the name and the force behind the billboard and other out-of-home media that’s NOT hawking beer, booze, or land-banking realty companies… but local artists.
In just 10 years, Art Pop Street Gallery has grown from a one-woman side hustle, to a full-time nonprofit that leverages more than $8 million in public ad space, AND has paid out nearly three quarters of a million bucks DIRECTLY TO local artists since 2020. For Wendy, it’s all about making art accessible and approachable. And that seemingly simple approach has created some real magic for the featured artists.
We called her the, “Oprah of Charlotte art.” And quite frankly, it really didn’t resonate with her.
Until the next day.
We believe she’s far too modest. You be the judge, after you tuck into this serving of The Raising a Ruckus Podcast…
Cheers!
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If you know, you know… feat. Maddy Ebbert, artist & muralist
Here we go! It’s The Raising a Ruckus Podcast … the joint all about rule-breakers, change-makers, and risk-takers — and the leaps of faith, sleepless nights, disasters, and big decisions they made along the way. Welcome to the show!
When you’re just starting out, the prevailing and conventional wisdom is that you can do just about anything for a year. You know, paying your dues, learning the ropes, and all that jazz. But that kind of advice isn’t exactly for the unconventional types, now is it?
Sometimes, it’s more like, “when you know, you know… “
That’s pretty much how Maddy Ebbert saw it. After college, she bagged on a new job just a few weeks into it. Yeah, her parents were thrilled. (We probably should have asked if she’d even found the bathroom or the printer in such a short time.)
Anyways, Maddy sold most of her stuff, and set out to be really creative. And find a way to get paid to do it.
So, how’s all that working out? Maddy Ebbert gets into it with us on this episode of The Raising a Ruckus Podcast.
Cheers!
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Lillian Richards – it’s not a pig, it’s a bear
Here we go! It’s The Raising a Ruckus Podcast … the joint all about rule-breakers, change-makers, and risk-takers — and the leaps of faith, sleepless nights, disasters, and big decisions they made along the way. Welcome to the show!
Let’s get this out of the way from the jump: Lillian Richards is one of the kindest, loveliest souls you’re ever gonna meet. And, she’s one heck of a creative cat, too. Although, we’re pretty sure she’s more of a “dog person,” though.
Regardless, Lillian is a creator, a Creative Mornings regular, and an artist that describes her style as, “cattywampus.” Quite frankly, we’re not exactly sure what that means – but we totally dig it. She sees what she sees, and she lets the work speak to her in its own time. It’s a level of creative patience we’re totally unfamiliar with.
And talk about making the lemonade out of the lemons. Lillian drops a little backstory on us that’s helped provide her with the time to explore her art even further. You go, lady! We’d love for you to meet our friend, Lillian Richards, on this episode of the Raising a Ruckus Podcast!
Cheers!
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This just in… feat. Tony Mecia & Cristina Bolling, Charlotte Ledger
You’re about to push “play” on another episode of The Raising a Ruckus Podcast; the show all about rule-breakers, change-makers, and risk-takers — and the leaps of faith, sleepless nights, disasters, and big decisions they made along the way. Strap in, party people!
"Our citizens may be deceived for a while, and have been deceived; but as long as the presses can be protected, we may trust to them for light."
Preach on, Thomas Jefferson.
Don’t know about you, but we’d be down with a Lin-Manuel Miranda joint about the importance and the power of the media in American history. There’s a reason dictators want a grip on the press. The pen is arguably mightier than the sword, as the saying goes, in changing the way we think and act. And for ensuring those who are elected to act on our behalf are doing just that.
But with fewer folks willing to take on the responsibility, absorb the criticism -- and collect the far-from-lucrative salaries that come with the trade, it’s no wonder we’re so generally less-informed. Were there only 57 channels, Mr. Knopfler. Then we’d at least have a shot at keeping up…
But there’s hope in the form of true believers and scrappy publishers, like the folks at The Charlotte Ledger. And hell yeah, we wanted them on this program. Tony Mecia and Cristina Bolling are building a solid foundation – and an audience – in an arguably crumbling media landscape.
You owe it to yourself to check out what they’re doing and why. So stop reading this, and push “play” already!
Cheers!
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Not faking it, but actually making it… feat. Natalie Robinson
Here we go! It’s The Raising a Ruckus Podcast … the joint all about rule-breakers, change-makers, and risk-takers — and the leaps of faith, sleepless nights, disasters, and big decisions they made along the way. Welcome to the show!
There’s a big difference between bulls#itting your way through life versus having the moxie to say, “yes!” to new challenges – and having the courage to figure out how to get it done. It’s not a fake-it-til-you-make-it thing, but more of a raw, unbridled confidence that anything is possible and that failure is just another word for learning.
We dig the hell out of that kinda attitude.
Natalie Robinson is a Charlotte artist and muralist who operates with that kind of outlook on work and life. And that doesn’t make everyone happy. FWIW, we dig that, too.
While the paint was still wet on yet ANOTHER of her big projects, she jumped off the ladder and into the studio with us before hopping a plane to South America for another adventure. Unapologetically honest and enthusiastic, this is one local artist you’ll want to keep up with. If you can…
Welcome to the episode where even Yash felt old and tired.
Cheers!
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